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Al-Husayn I ibn Ali, also known as Hussein I (Arabic: حسين الأول; born in 1675 – 13 September 1740) was the founder of the Husainid Dynasty, which ruled Tunisia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1957.

Biography

Husayn was born a Kouloughli, which is a term used to refer to an Ottoman father and a local North African mother. His father was a Muslim of Cretan Greek origin and his mother was a Tunisian. The Husaynids were often called "Greeks" by Habib Bourguiba and, until recently, discussion of their origins was taboo.

In 1702 the janissary commander Ibrahim Sharif, of whom he was lieutenant, expelled the Muradid Dynasty from Tunis. Three years later, after Sharif had been captured by the Dey of Algiers, he took control of the Turkish army in Tunis and, on 12 July 1705, had himself proclaimed Bey of Tunis. He had one of his close relatives proclaimed dey by the Constantinople diwan, an act which increased his popularity amongst the Ottoman janissaries, and he was also able to gain support from his Tunisian subjects; however, his entourage was mostly composed of Mamluks. Husayn's first councillor was a Frenchman from Toulon, a literate man who had helped him in gaining power.

He imposed a unity upon the country by having Sharif assassinated at Ghar el-Melh upon his release from captivity. A pious man, Al-Husayn also used Islam to unite Tunisia's numerous different ethnicities. He built numerous edifices dedicated to religion and religious studies (madrasas), such as the Madrasahs of the Dyers (1727) and al-Husseyniah in Tunis, as well as the mosque of Le Bardo and other madrasas in the country's mainland (Kairouan, Sfax, Sousse and Nafta).

In 1726 he ordered the construction of El Jedid Mosque in Tunis.

Husayn tried to establish a succession to the title of bey for his sons Muhammad and Ali (born in 1710 and 1712, respectively). His nephew Ali Pasha, who had been plotting against him and had been therefore put under surveillance by Husayn, was able to escape and revolted, with the help of local tribes and of the Dey of Algiers. The latter invaded Tunisia and defeated Husayn at the battle of Smindja on 4 September 1735. Husayn was forced to flee to Sousse, while his troops in Tunis capitulated. Husayn was captured and beheaded on 13 September 1740.

References

1. Brett & Fentress 1997, 178
2. Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1996). "The Husaynid Beys". The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 9780748696482.
3. Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhaĭlovich (1973). Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Macmillan. p. 531. The Husaynid dynasty was founded by al-Husayn ibn Ali, a Turkish officer of Greek origin.
4. Clancy-Smith, Julia Ann (2011). Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migration, C. 1800-1900. University of California Press. p. 699. ISBN 978-0-520-25923-2. In his speeches, Bourgouiba frequently claimed that the Husaynids and the political class of mamluk origins were not really Tunisians, often referring to them as Greeks.
5. Choueiri, Youssef (2013-10-08). Modern Arab Historiography: Historical Discourse and the Nation-State. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-136-86869-6. The dynasty of the Husaynids, founded by Husayn Ibn 'All, an Ottoman agha of Greek origin, ruled Tunisia until 1957 when, after independence, it was abolished and a republic was announced.
6. Tucker, Judith E. (2019). The Making of the Modern Mediterranean: Views from the South. University of California Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0-520-97320-6. Founded by the son of a Muslim from Venetian-ruled and subsequently Ottoman-controlled Crete, the Husaynid dynasty (1705-1957) mirrored the larger play of trans-Mediterranean politics for two and a half centuries.
7. Brown, L. Carl (2015). The Tunisia of Ahmad Bey, 1837-1855. Princeton University Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-1-4008-4784-6.
8. Abun-Nasr, Jamil M. (1987). A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period. Cambridge University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-521-33767-0.
9. Brown 2015, pp. 29-30. ...was half-Greek and half-Tunisian.
10. ed. Abun-Nasr 1987, p. 173.
11. Johnston 2011, p. 21.
12. Clancy-Smith 2011 "In his speeches, Bourgouiba frequently claimed that the Husaynids and the political class of mamluk origins were not really Tunisians, often referring to them as Greeks"
13. "Lieux de culte Municipalité de Tunis" (in French). Government of Tunis. Archived from the original on 11 August 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2010.

Bibliography

• Brett, Michael; Fentress, Elizabeth (1997), The Berbers, Wiley-Blackwell, ISBN 0631207678.

• 17th-century people from the Ottoman Empire
• 18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire
• 18th-century Tunisian people
• 1675 births
• 1740 deaths
• Tunisian people of Greek descent
• Tunisian people of Turkish descent
• Beys of Tunis
• Executed Tunisian people
• People executed by Tunisia by decapitation
• 18th-century monarchs in Africa
• Tunisian royalty
• People from El Kef